A Bite Out of Hunger

Orange County and the country are seeing its first mobile market. The traveling food bank is intended to serve low and fixed-income seniors.

Second Harvest Food Bank will have the ability to travel around to serve the community

For Orange County, the appearance of the mobile market is good news. Feeding America, a hunger relief organization estimated in 2017 that 315,000 of Orange County residents were food insecure.

“With 22% of the senior population in Orange County considered food insecure, we made this strategy a priority. We are really excited to get out and do something that we believe will have a big impact on seniors in the county,” said Second Harvest CEO Nicole Suydam.

This mobile market is not only fending off hunger for these seniors but also will be providing them with healthy choices to choose from. The mobile unit has a refrigerated trailer, with fruits, veggies, and meat.

What’s available from day to day will change depending on what is donated at the time.

This is a good change and companies like Albertsons, Wal-Mart, Ralphs, and Target are donating to the cause.

The mobile unit will make it a lot easier for seniors to get access to good food, as many have a hard time getting around.

Francas Fabella, 75, said she’s had to adhere to a strict budget when getting groceries.

“This will be our primary groceries now and it gives me a smile,” Fabella said.

With over 20 locations with weekly stops, many more seniors will be smiling.

This idea came about 2 years ago from a need for seniors to get food with dignity. This new evolution of food bank will not just be cans and dry goods but will have 70% of the food being distributed considered as perishable items.

The mobile market is expected to be able to provide an equivalent of 1 million meals each year, now this is taking a bite out of hunger.

Sonia Rina Landry is a passionate entrepreneur, speaker, author, and personal development coach. She is an outspoken advocate of the free market economy and has helped countless clients identify their core values, envision and realize goals that resonate with those values. She oversees several businesses online and offline.